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The Global Failure to Teach the Truth About the Holocaust

The Global Failure to Teach the Truth About the Holocaust

It’s not just the US suffering from a lack of Holocaust knowledge

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvaMo4wVaUU&t=14s

For years, there has been talking and concern about the lack of factual Holocaust knowledge and education in the United States and around the world. Education systems dominated by leftist teachers often antagonistic towards Israel are sometimes loathing to bring up the subject. It’s possible to also blame an easily accessible Internet that leads users down dark rabbit holes of Holocaust conspiracy theories.

In “The Failure of Holocaust Education in Britain,” Rosie Whitehouse writes:

The current debate over anti-Semitism in Britain’s opposition Labour Party and the views of its leader Jeremy Corbyn have also had a negative impact on Holocaust education in the classroom and made better teacher training even more imperative. Wetherall’s students now ask about Holocaust denial and anti-Semitism. “Two to three years ago I would not have had pupils who would have heard the terms,” she said, adding that “the guidelines have not kept up with these changes, leaving teachers ill-equipped to deal with the issue.”

It’s certainly not easy to find out how it got this bad and certainly will be even harder to fix.

The Azrieli Foundation and Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany just released a report on the lack of Holocaust education in Canada.

Among the findings:

An alarming 52% of millennials cannot name even one concentration camp or ghetto and 62% of millennials did not know that six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

22% of millennials haven’t heard or are not sure if they have heard of the Holocaust.

Nearly one-quarter of all Canadians (23 percent) believe that substantially less than six million Jews were killed (two million or fewer) during the Holocaust, while another near-quarter (24 percent) were unsure of how many were killed.

Nearly six out of ten Canadians (57 percent) say fewer people seem to care about the Holocaust than they used to.

1100 Canadians aged 18 and over were surveyed in September 2018. The report, which has a margin of error +/- 3%, also found that:

Findings show a substantial lack of personal connections to the
Holocaust – as most Canadians have never visited a Holocaust museum, nor do
they know someone else who has, and they don’t know or know of a survivor.

These are worrisome facts that must be addressed as quickly as possible. This must be addressed in the United States as well. The same group issued a report in April 2018 which held similar results:

Seven out of ten Americans (70 percent) say fewer people seem to care about the Holocaust than they used to

A majority of Americans (58 percent) believe something like the Holocaust could happen again

Nearly one-third of all Americans (31 percent) and more than 4-in-10 Millennials (41 percent) believe that substantially less than 6 million Jews were killed (two million or fewer) during the Holocaust

While there were over 40,000 concentration camps and ghettos in Europe during the Holocaust, almost half of Americans (45 percent) cannot name a single one – and this percentage is even higher amongst Millennials

Sadly, this problem extends well past North America. Jerusalem Post reporter Ilanit Chernick tweeted an article today:

In “EU survey finds the majority of Europeans see no rise in antisemitism,” Chernick notes that:

In a shocking revelation, only one-third of Europeans believe that antisemitism has increased over the last five years.

“The Eurobarometer results shows that there is clear perception gap of the problem of antisemitism,” a European Commission wrote in a report, which accompanied the survey. “Only around a third of Europeans (36%) believe that antisemitism has increased in their country over the past five years. This is the majority view in six EU Member States” which includes France, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Austria.

From far-right groups in Germany to BDS-supporting new members of the United States House of Representatives to the Israel-bashing United Nations, the world is seeing a rapidly rising level of anti-Semitism and hatred of the Jewish State. This lack of knowledge and education will continue to exacerbate the problem. If people don’t address the trend and start to reverse it, “Never Forget!” will become “Forget What?”

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Comments

The premise is true. However many have written on the topic.

I think there is a bigger issue in that so few really know the horrors behind the Iron Curtain and in China. The only reason I can see why so many want to run towards “socialism” which is communism-light, is that they don’t understand where it actually leads and how awful it is.

The WHOLE story of ALL the cousins of collectivism needs to be told; fascism, socialism and communism have all killed millions and stunted the lives of vastly more.

    rabid wombat in reply to Ragspierre. | January 25, 2019 at 6:08 pm

    This ^. Make sure the world knows what collectivism yields

    Likewise, “deniers” should tour some of the facilities the way many Germans were forced to see the results during the aftermath of WWII. I have been through a number in Germany and Austria….you never forget.

      Morning Sunshine in reply to rabid wombat. | January 25, 2019 at 6:40 pm

      Oh, my trip to Dachau will stand in my memory as an empty place. Even birds were not within the walls. No, I will not forget my trip to Dauchau one gray April morning.

Morning Sunshine | January 25, 2019 at 6:45 pm

My cousin has no idea when Stalin was around and thought maybe we fought him in WWI? She had no idea about the Holodamor or the extent of the gulags. College educated and professional in a semi-medical field.

    I’ve seen things almost as appalling. Someone near and dear to me who graduated from Yale Law and worked as a judge in NY believed the Chinese never had wheat before Marco Polo brought it; that the Philippines is a Spanish-speaking country; that French was the ordinary speech of present-day Viet Nam; believed China’s unity was achieved by Genghis Khan; thought Heinrich Heine was a Nazi (he lived too early and was born Jewish) simply because lots of Germans loved his poetry; believed that Muslims copied, published, and used the Old Testament as well as the Qur’an; etc.

    Historical ignorance is more common than any of us would like to admit. I’m as appalled by how ignorant people are of the holocaust as anyone else, but maybe the confluence of popular pro-Palestinian leftism and general historical ignorance work together in this horrible state of affairs.

Well first off, it’s not 6 million. It’s more, because that number doesn’t include those executed in the Soviet territories well Hitler and Stalin were cooperating. Even after Germany invaded, Russia was still quite happy to cooperate in getting rid of the Jews. Unlike Germany they did not keep records, So there was not an obvious count of the number exterminated.
Personally I think accounts of the holocaust should also mention the millions of others murdered in the camps, I believe those included polls, Roma, dissidents, and and the disabled, and who knows who else. Liberals got on board with dismantling traditional fact based education starting in the 60s in favor of a nihilistic “it’s all Whites/Christians/Kapitalists/Americas and ultimately The Jews fault!!!” woke-washing. They should not be surprised at where the train was routed to.

The Susan Sontags figure they will not be around when the next episode of disappearing Jews starts, they will even campaign their ancient oppressors into power. Ten Trotskys light the fires, ten thousand Bronsteins get burned.

@Andy
Maybe they figure that they will be the commissar and a deplorable they will be the kulak.

Historical knowledge in general is very poor these days. Lack of Holocaust knowledge is a symptom and a consequence.

Yes, it could happen again. The ignorant won’t ever be vigilant enough against it.

JusticeDelivered | January 25, 2019 at 9:42 pm

How much intellectual capital was lost as a result of the Holocaust? To what degree is hatred of Jews driven by envy and resentment that they are exceptionally intelligent and successful?

A logical response to Jews would be to appreciate their accomplishments and what they have done for all of humanity, unfortunately far to many people are irrational and short term gain oriented.

    To what degree is hatred of Jews driven by envy and resentment that they are exceptionally intelligent and successful?

    Cf Malay hatred of Chinese, and African hatred of Indians.

      karl_lembke in reply to Milhouse. | January 28, 2019 at 2:38 pm

      Indeed, of any of the “middleman minorities”. Not only do they enjoy success, it’s easy to paint that success as “unearned”.

legacyrepublican | January 27, 2019 at 4:02 pm

The other day, I had my oldest son sit down and watch the HBO movie, Conspiracy, with Kenneth Branaugh.

It was chilling to watch and gave him a whole new appreciation of how evil can happen.

In addition, as a family, we have visited the Holocaust Museum in Dallas as well as a Holocaust museum in Terra Haute, IN.